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Deported Saudi journalist risks death sentence

Malaysia on Sunday deported Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari, who was wanted in his home country after his tweet about the Prophet Mohammed sparked calls for his execution and prompted top clerics to brand him an "infidel".

AFP - Malaysia on Sunday deported a young Saudi journalist who is wanted in his home country over a Twitter post about the Prophet Mohammed that sparked calls for his execution, an official said.

Hamza Kashgari, who was detained in Malaysia during the week after fleeing Saudi Arabia, left the country in the custody of Saudi officials, according to a Malaysian government official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

Kashgari fled to Muslim-majority Malaysia after making comments on the microblogging site deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed, which fuelled a surge of outrage.

Insulting the prophet is considered blasphemous in Islam and is a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

Malaysia's government would not immediately confirm Hamza's deportation, but a Home Ministry statement Sunday said Kashgari would be sent back to Saudi Arabia.

"Malaysia has a long-standing arrangement by which individuals wanted by one country are extradited when detained by the other, and (Kashgari) will be repatriated under this arrangement," the statement said.

"The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities."

Kashgari's deportation is certain to spark outrage from human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who urged Malaysia not to send him back to face severe punishment and possibly a death sentence.

Malaysia and Saudi Arabia do not have a formal extradition treaty but have close ties as fellow Muslim countries.

Rights groups have said Kashgari, who was detained on Thursday after flying into Malaysia, was en route to New Zealand.

His controversial tweet sparked tens of thousands of responses, according to an online service that tracks Twitter postings in the Arab world.

He tweeted: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you.

"I will not pray for you."

Kashgari apologised but a committee of top clerics branded him "an infidel" and demanded he be tried in an Islamic court, while a Saudi Facebook page calling for his execution has attracted thousands of followers.